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TMTPOST -- Microsoft Corporation is fueling the artificial intelligence (AI) frenzy as it on Wednesday stuck a massive AI infrastructure deal and joined in a takeover of a major datacenter developer.
Credit：Alibaba Cloud
London-based AI cloud company Nscale on Wednesday announced it has signed an expanded deal with Microsoft to deploy around 200,000 Nvidia GB300 graphics processing units (GPUs) for AI infrastructure across Europe and the U.S. in collaboration with Dell Technoloies, one of the largest AI infrastructure contracts ever signed. The contract will net Nscale $14 billion, CNBC confirmed.
Under the deal, Nscale will build a 240 megawatt (MW) hyperscale AI campus in Texas for Microsoft, initially delivering about 104,000 Nvidia GB300 GPUs in the third quarter of 2026. Nscale plans to scale its footprint to 1.2 gigawatt (GW) over time, with Microsoft holding an option on a second phase of 700MW starting in late 2027.
In Europe, Nscale, from the first quarter of 2026, will deliver approximately 12,600 Nvidia GB300 GPUs at the Start Campus data centre in Sines, Portugal. Nscale will also deliver through its owned operations and a joint venture with Aker ASA. The ventured agreed to deliver approximately 52,000 Nvidia GB300 GPUs to Microsoft from its hyperscale AI campus in Narvik, Norway.
The deal builds on plans announced by Microsoft and Nscale in September to deliver Britain』s largest Nvidia AI supercomputer at Nscale』s Loughton AI Campus. The 50MW facility, scalable to 90MW, will house approximately 23,000 Nvidia GB300 GPUs from the first quarter of 2027 to power Microsoft Azure services.
This multi-year agreement will see Nscale deliver Nvidia AI infrastructure services to Microsoft while providing European customers with sovereign AI solutions within the EU. It is the fourth such deal between Microsoft and Nscale in the past two months.
Wednesday also saw a consortium including Microsoft, Nvidia, and BlackRock said it agreed to buy AI data infrastructure company Aligned Data Centers in deal valued at $40 billion, making it the largest to date for global datatcenters. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
MGX of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, BlackRock』s Global Infrastructure Partners and members of Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership, or AIP, will acquire 100% of Aligned Data Centers』 equity. AIP was created by BlackRock, MGX, Microsoft and Nvidia in September 2024 to accelerate investment in AI infrastructure. The takeover of Aligned marks AIP』s first investment and is a step toward the group』s goal of deploying $30 billion of equity capital.
Aligned Data Centers,headquartered in Dallas,Texas, is one of the world』s largest and fastest-growing data center firms. Macquarie Asset Management made its initial investment in Aligned in April 2018, and acquired an additional stake in July 2020.
Under Macquarie Asset Management』s ownership, Aligned has expanded from two operational facilities in Dallas and Phoenix with 85 MW of critical capacity to become a leading hyperscale data center platform with over 5 GW of operational and planned capacity, including assets under development, across 50 data centers in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Colombia.
Aligned on Wendesday said the purchase 「will fuel the expansion of next-generation cloud and AI infrastructure.」 BlackRock CEO and AIP Chair Larry Fink said that with the acquisition, 「we further our goal of delivering the infrastructure necessary to power the future of AI, while offering our clients attractive opportunities to participate in its growth.」
